Education & Reference Reading Thread

[chargers 09]

I Know there's a Media and Entertainment board with a book sub-section, just feel I'll get more of a response on here.

I'm reading a biography on the great Italian cyclist of the 90's and early 2000's Marco Pantani, one of the great climbers and tragic figures in cycling history.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marco_Pantani

Fire away!

 

[chargers 09]

Anyone read the Thomas Harris Red Dragon Series?

Watched the first 2 seasons of Hannibal and loved, has been fantastic and would recommend it. Is the book series any good?

 

[Bunk Moreland]

I recently read "Those About To Die" by Daniel Mannix, it's about gladiator battles in Ancient Rome, written almost like contemporary sports writing. Recommend.

 

[James_Blues]

Probably good timing for this thread considering there's been a bit of a discussion on all the books we read during high school in the things that shit me thread

 

[TheHoneyBadger]

Currently reading "Passchendaele - The Anatomy of a Tragedy" by Andrew MacDonald.

Terrific book, it's all put together very well. Can make for heavy reading as it's very descriptive, but I'm enjoying it.

Beyond that I've got a couple of Matthew Reillys waiting for me, and I'm also flicking through 'AFL Premiers', by Joe St John. It has a neat little summary of each season and Grand Final from 1897 through 2012, including the teams on the day and little descriptions of players from bygone eras. Love it.

 

[MarcusP2]

Which Matthew Reillys? I feel like I'm reading a novelisation of Commando when I'm reading them.








Still read them all though...

 

[TheHoneyBadger]

The Tournament, and then Ice Station, I've got that series to go through.

 

[James_Blues]

The Tournament, and then Ice Station, I've got that series to go through.

I read The Tournament earlier this year when I was away overseas, and then a week later I was in Istanbul. Was really weird having read the book then walking through Topkapi Palace and through the Harem.

 

[Illinois Nazi]

I recently read "Those About To Die" by Daniel Mannix, it's about gladiator battles in Ancient Rome, written almost like contemporary sports writing. Recommend.

Does it include the classic Judean League victory to Reg Cutlass Spartacus?

 

[chargers 09]

Starting Guns, Germs and Steel tonight. Anyone read it before?

 

[Caesar]

Yeah. Pretty well written book, he's got an engaging style. Got to take his theories with a grain of salt but well worth the read.

 

[volcboy]

Starting Guns, Germs and Steel tonight. Anyone read it before?

Good book. It's also worth reading Jared Diamond's other popular book 'Collapse: How Societies Choose to Fail or Succeed' if you enjoy it.

 

[volcboy]

I'm currently studying post-grad Astronomy/Astrophysics, so I read mainly non-fiction. My recent reads are;

The Book Nobody Read - Owen Gingerich. A book about the seminal work of astronomy On the Revolutions of the Heavenly Spheres by Nicholaus Copernicus and it's profound influence on early scientific thought (Kepler, Galileo, Newton etc.) by an historical researcher who has studied every existing copy of the book. Well written and interesting.

QED: The Strange Theory of Light and Matter - Richard Feynman. Amazing explanation of quantum electrodynamics - how the electromagnetic force is transferred by photons - by its creator (who won a Nobel Prize for the work), everybody's favorite physicist Richard Feynman. Half way between a textbook and a popular science book, sort of a popular science book for science graduates.

Rare Earth: Why Complex Life is Uncommon in the Universe - Ward & Brownlee. A well researched refutation of the Drake Equation, which statistically postulates that intelligent life and civilizations are relatively common in our galaxy/the universe. Focuses on the difficulty in moving from simple bacterial life (relatively common) to complex lifeforms (very uncommon).

The best science book I've read in the last 5 years is A Universe From Nothing: Why There is Something Rather Than Nothing - Lawrence Krauss. A very readable and understandable account of the current state of cosmology and the beginnings of our universe.

All recommended reading (if you're into nerdy stuff).

 

[RolandF1]

Anyone read the Thomas Harris Red Dragon Series?

Watched the first 2 seasons of Hannibal and loved, has been fantastic and would recommend it. Is the book series any good?

Yeah, its pretty good. The best one I think is Red Dragon with the main protaganist trying to get into the mind of the killer (like the series). Silence of the Lambs is considered the best. Some dislike Hannibal but I enjoyed it, even though I thought there was going to be a bit more.... epicness to it. I got a good laugh out of the ending because it feels like a giant '**** you' by Harris to all the feminist crap surrounding Silence of the Lambs.

 

[ash_1050]

Currently reading 'Thinking Fast and Slow' by Daniel Kahneman and 'A Billion Wicked Thoughts' by Ogi Ogas and Sai Gaddam. Both are interesting in their own way, especially Thinking Fast and Slow.